This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application Number 2003-47985 filed Feb. 25, 2003, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to a pressure fryer which includes an oil vat for containing cooking oil, a heating means for heating the oil vat and a lid capable of hermetically sealing the oil vat so as to cook foods such as fried chicken or fried potatoes with heat and pressure.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional pressure fryer includes an oil vat provided in a casing for containing cooking oil and having an opening at the upper surface of the casing, a heating means for heating the cooking oil, such as a burner, and a lid capable of sealing the opening of the oil vat. With this structure, cooking oil in the oil vat is heated by a heating means with the opening of the oil vat closed, whereby foods put into the oil vat can be cooked with heat and pressure.
In addition, the lid can move upward and downward horizontally between a lower limit position in which the opening of the oil vat is sealed and an upper limit position in which the opening is provided by a supporting means provided on the casing. Because of this structure, a basket hanging from the lid for containing foods can be sunk in the oil vat and pulled out from the oil vat. (Please refer to Japanese Patent Examined Publication No. 6-77556 and Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2000-5082A)
In such a fryer, however, the lid is always located above the oil vat even if the lid is at the upper limit position in which the oil vat is opened. Therefore, if the fryer is used as an open fryer without using the lid, the lid could be an obstacle for cooking operation, whereby a working space is narrowed and it is not convenient.
In order to solve the above problem, an object of the present invention is to provide a fryer serving as an open fryer in which a lid is not an obstacle and having an excellent usability.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a supporting means has a laterally moving means for retracting the lid from an area above the oil vat at the upper limit position.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the object of the first aspect, the supporting means is a support bar which is connected to the lid at the upper portion thereof and perpendicularly provided to move upward and downward adjacent to the oil vat in the casing. Further, the support bar also serves as the laterally moving means by being provided turnably in a horizontal direction. As a result, the supporting means and the laterally moving means can be formed easily.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the objects of the first and second aspects, the lid is capable of turning from a horizontal state to a vertical state when the lid is retracted from the area above the oil vat. As a result, it is possible to provide a wider working space at the area above the oil vat.
It should be noted that the vertical state includes not only a state where the lid turns 90 degrees from a lateral state, but a state where the lid turns less than 90 degrees from the lateral state forming an acute angle.